Yeah and when you consider Classic Who, they almost always are bad guys. Though, more specifically the Time Lords. Most Gallifreyans in general are alright like most people throughout the universe.
The Sixth Doctor in the Trial of a Time Lord: "In all my travellings throughout the universe, I have battled against evil, against power-mad conspirators. I should have stayed HERE! The oldest civilization: decadent, degenerate and rotten to the core! Ha! Power-mad conspirators, Daleks, Sontarans, Cybermen - they're still in the nursery compared to us! Ten million years of absolute power - that's what it takes to be really corrupt!"
I think the Doctor has very complicated feelings about Gallifrey and the Time Lords, as do many of us about our own countries. He loves and hates them at the same time. Wants Gallifrey to be safe, and sometimes thinks the universe would be better off without them. There are no easy answers for him.
My favourite episode for so many reasons. This is Capaldi, Murray Gold, Rachel Talalay and even Moffatt at their very best. Few actors could master an hour on screen (practically) on their own - and fewer still who could do it even nearly as well as Capaldi. A work of art.
There's this emperor, and he asks the shepherd's boy "how many seconds in eternity?" And the shepherd's boy says, "there's this episode called "Heaven Sent", it stars Peter Capaldi, and it has him monologue for 55 minutes in a castle. Every so often, a reaction channel on RUclips reacts to the series in its entirety. And when they finally reach "Heaven Sent", the first second of eternity will have passed". You might think that's a hell of a long time. Personally, I think that's a hell of an episode. "Heaven Sent" is an absolute masterpiece, the pinnacle of series 9, and in all honesty the entire Moffat era. It's a very bold risk to put out an episode like this, a 55 minute long meditation on grief and bereavement, with only four characters, one of whom is speaking 99% of the episode's dialogue, confined to a single location, all of this in what is part two of the series' epic three-part finale. And yet it works spectacularly, all thanks to the work of the excellent writing, directing, music and acting. "Heaven Sent" is Steven Moffat's magnum opus, and while If you wanted to demonstrate a typical Moffat script to someone, you'd show them "Blink" or "The Pandorica Opens", this is what you show them if you want to demonstrate what the man is capable of when firing on all cylinders. The narrative functions on two levels, both as a tense survival horror story, and as a brooding examination of grief and trauma, and it excels at both of them. The typical adventure is highly engaging thanks to the high concept nature of both the location and the monster, as well as the compelling mystery that keeps you guessing throughout and will leave you floored when the pieces finally fall into place. At the same time, the exploration of the Doctor's grief over Clara's death is beautiful and emotionally moving, with the Time Lord cycling back and forth between denial and anger, trying to press on with his latest quest, up until he faces the diamond wall and we see him just crumble. It's a gut-wrenching sequence, with the Doctor's agonised cries of "why can't I just lose?!" punching right through the heart, as does his sad realisation that whatever he does, Clara still will be gone. It makes the moment Clara (or rather his memory of her) persuades him to get back up and punch his way through the diamond wall for billions of years, effectively confronting his bereavement head on rather than avoiding it all the more powerful. It's a beautiful little narrative, filled with plenty of brilliant Moffat lines of dialogue of both the witty ("I'm not scared of Hell, it's just Heaven for bad people") and the emotional kind ("the day you lose someone isn't the worst; at least you've got something to do. It's all the days they stay dead"). Of course, Moffat's script is only one part of the puzzle that makes "Heaven Sent" such a masterpiece. While he put those magnificent beautiful words on the page, it's director Rachel Talalay who brings the whole thing to life visually. Fresh off the back of her excellent work in last series' finale, she proves her versatility with this introspective and moody chamber piece, using the aesthetic of this old castle to provide a beautifully Gothic atmosphere, with an abundance of mesmerisingly gorgeous shots, plenty of highly tense and creepy sequences with the slow shambling form of the Veil, and an exhilarating visual flair that makes the Doctor's mind palace sequences stunning and exciting, as opposed to intrusive and annoying like in the later series of Sherlock. I also have to praise the editing during the episode's climax, with the repetitive scenes of the Doctor going about his routine over billions of years feeling completely engrossing, taking us on an emotional roller coaster as we realise what the Doctor's doing and watch with baited breath as we wait for his plan to come to fruition. Speaking of this sequence, Murray Gold's accompanying track, 'The Shepherd's Boy'/'Breaking the Wall', is a stunning and magnificent piece of music, and one of his most emotionally stirring and exciting compositions. Though let's not pretend, the rest of his work on this episode should also be highly commended, the whole episode has this delightfully moody almost Beethoven-esque sound that creates a really unique feel for this episode, and truly sells the idea of this being something completely different for the show (I also love the very 80s synth riff that plays when the Doctor finds Clara's portrait). After several years of thinking that Murray was over the hill as a composer and past his prime, he proves once and for all that he's still got it, all he needs is the right kind of episode to push him to his limit and challenge him. But the pièce de résistance that pulls the entire thing together? None other than Mr Peter Dougan Capaldi, who in this episode turns out not just his best performance as the Doctor, but also possibly the best performance of *any actor* who has ever played the Doctor. Continuing off his emotionally volatile turn in the final moments of last episode, Capaldi proves he means business right from the word go, with his chilling opening monologue to his unseen kidnappers setting the stage for the tour de force to follow. From there, he engrosses us in the character's personal journey, throughout the events of the episode, as we see him try to obey Clara's last wish to not take revenge, and simply find his way out of the latest bind he's trapped in. Capaldi does a great job at selling the Doctor's attempts to keep up a brave face for...Clara? Himself? His kidnappers? The flippant witty remarks he makes throughout the episode that are typical for the character are as funny and clever as always, but all betray a sense of repressed sadness, anger, and fear. He's bottling up his emotions and refusing to properly deal with his grief, all of which leads to the heartbreaking scene where he realises what's actually happening (by the way, kudos for Talalay's excellent use of a rack focus during this moment) and he snaps, finally dropping the mask he's been wearing throughout the episode and baring his emotions, considering just giving up and letting the Veil take him. Similarly, Capaldi's performance through the subsequent scenes is magnificent - his defiance as he decides not to play the Veil's game; his exhaustion as he once again sets out to start the cycle again; his triumph when he finally breaks free; and of course, his rage, no longer repressed, as he finds himself back on Gallifrey, ready to unleash Hell on the Time Lords for putting him and Clara through all that. It's just perfect, and firmly cements Capaldi in his place as my favourite Doctor. Yeah, that's "Heaven Sent". It's not my absolute favourite episode of Doctor Who, but it's pretty secure in my top five episodes, and for damn good reason. A brilliant concept, executed to perfection thanks to the exemplary work of the four people who helped bring most of this to life (as well as the rest of the talented crew of course). It sets the stage for the final episode in a brilliant way, and is guaranteed to leave the audience on tenterhooks, waiting to see what happens next...
"and while If you wanted to demonstrate a typical Moffat script to someone, you'd show them "Blink" or "The Pandorica Opens", this is what you show them if you want to demonstrate what the man is capable of when firing on all cylinders." Don't forget Silence In The Library and Forest of the Dead. While I love The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances (which turned me around on Eccleston's Doctor) and Girl in the Fireplace which all were written by Moffatt, probably the Moffatt episodes I revisit the most are Heaven Sent and Silence in the Library and Forest of the Dead.
@@joer3720 On rewatch, I don't think it is the worst. It has the problem of trying to do too much, and that viewers go into it thinking it will be about Gallifrey (which is of minimal relevance), instead of about the season-long issue of the Doctor's relationship with Clara.
The Time Lords are the ones who manipulated worked with Ashildr on Trap Street to trap The Doctor in his confession dial and ended up killing Clara, so he's mad at them. And as other people have said, he misses Gallifrey and he misses his home but he ran away from Time Lord society for a reason - he mourned that he couldn't go back, but hates the things Rassilon and the Time Lords did as part of the Time War. I also really like the connection Paula brings up at 18:39 where the things the Doctor is saying ("burning up the old me to make a new one") can apply to the specific events of the episode, but also apply to the Doctor regenerating and changing.
This is by far the Tour De Force of NuWho and deserved winner of a Nebula award. Acting, writing, music, direction and effects are beyond criticism. Also, it frames Timelord society perfectly; Never-ending, untouchable, deadly and deadly boring. Exactly how they appeared all those years ago in War Games. When The Doctor tried to save Gallifrey in the Day of The Doctor is was because of the indigenous race of that planet, not the Timelords themselves; a corrupt and amoral lot that they had become through the millennia. A great episode.
Such an incredible episode with one of the best scores ever. Also, the one that completely destroys any doubt in people's minds as to how good an actor Capaldi is. He's pretty much on his own for the entire episode and still manages to make it incredibly-compelling.
@@ABrecher Please don't forget the late great Michael Pickwoad RIP. I met him at the Doctor Who Festival and spoke to him at length about his TARDIS and design, the man was such a character dressed in his a bow tie (with his loving wife arm in arm, so sweet) but giving off mad professor vibes. I was devastated to learn of his death and Rachel especially loved working with him
"Are the Time Lords bad guys now!?" Seems to depend on their agenda, yes? They can be formidable at times, such as when they forced The Doctor to regenerate- from the second Doctor, Troughton to the 3rd, Pertwee. Other times, completely ineffectual. Sometimes generous, such as them giving The Doctor untold of regenerations in "The Time of The Doctor." Other times, petty. i.e. all too human.
Yeah, the Doctor's beef seems to mainly be with the High Command and the generals of Gallifrey. Rassalon he definitely hates, alot of Council members he has distaste for, but your average Joe Gallifreian who's job is to just keep the TARDIS' oiled he does not have animosity against him.
It's important to remember, as will be more clear next episode, that Gallifrey and the Timelords are 2 separate things. The Doctor loves the planet, the regular people, just not the Timelords too much.
Of all the reactor channels I watch, about 80% of them had this episode blocked on RUclips. Don't know why it has to be this one. You can probably tell, it's an awesome one to react to.
I loved Katrina’s reactions to Paula’s predictions. Also loved Paula’s reactions too. This episode is without a doubt one of my favorite episodes, I love the sound and story so much and could never get tired of watching it. 55 minutes of pure Peter Capaldi acting his ass off
It's not just in "The End of Time" either, this is an animosity that has gone all the way back to Classic Who: "In all my travelling throughout the universe, I have battled against evil, against power-mad conspirators. I should have stayed here! The oldest civilisation: decadent, degenerate, and corrupt to the core! Power-mad conspirators? Daleks? Sontarans? Cybermen? They're still in the nursery compared to us! Ten million years of absolute power - that's what it takes to be really corrupt!" - the Sixth Doctor
The Time Lords aren't evil as such, but they are generally very self-centred and arrogant - although they can have moral individuals, their society/rulers are pretty corrupt. The original series had a great quote by the 6th Doctor: "In all my travellings throughout the universe I have battled against evil. Against power mad conspirators. I should have stayed here! The oldest civilisation. Decadent, degenerate, and rotten to the core... Daleks, Sontarans, Cybermen - they're still in the nursery compared to us. Ten million years of absolute power. That's what it takes to be really corrupt."
One of my favourite episodes, which I think works even better retrospectively with other information we learn from later series’ (no spoilers, of course). I’m also a fan of Hell Bent, but I will admit to being biased as a big fan of a certain character 🙈 But regardless if you gals love or loathe it, very much excited to see your reaction! It’s always good to see differing opinions ❤️❤️
Oh, and I would add: yes, the Time Lords are villainous in the same sense that Governments can be villainous. The aristocratic, power driven & overriding leaders of Gallifrey have generally been villains throughout the show’s history, which is one of the reasons the Doctor ran away & was so willing to pick up arms against them in ‘The End of Time’. But he’s also aware that a huge population of the planet are innocent, just trying to live their own life and are as much a victim of the High Council than anyone else. Mainly, like the folks we see in The Day of the Doctor. The everyday folk - the Doctor stands for them, rather than the pompous & arrogant.
Paula said that she didn't want to look stupid, due to the story's twists and turns. Don't worry, most of us end up looking down the wrong end of Steven Moffat's story gun 😂
My take on the "bird" message is not that 12 remembers every death, but that the message from himself to himself is designed to trigger the memory of the story of the bird, and from that come up with the plan, and also the realisation that the plan is in progress and each iteration needs to punch as long as they can and then pass the message on the next iteration. It may take 2 billion years to complete, but each iteration only has a few days of memories of running and punching before they die/escape. So the final version that makes it to Gallifrey may know intellectually how long it has been, but he hasn't experienced all that time.
This is my most favourite episode of Doctor Who. Capaldi is not my highest favourite for reasons I can't remember, but he is nonetheless very good. And in this episode he is _perfect._
There are special episodes of Doctor Who and this is one I was waiting for Paula to react to, and watch her facial expressions while figuring out, what the heck is going on.
''The fortress is under siege, The enemy is closing, closing, closing, closing in. Quickly learning, learning, learning, Now need to outrun the Veil, Gears are turning, turning, turning, No escaping from this jail, With every step, with every breath, I'm hunted down by my certain death, I failed to protect you And this is the cost, In this lonely labyrinth, I'm lost. Heart still yearning, yearning, yearning, Portrait hangs upon the wall, Rage is burning, burning, burning, How could I have let you fall? The paint will fade, the guilt not so, With the burden of your death I'll go, Your eyes do not shine, They look down and condemn, As it should be - how I failed, my friend! Seas are pounding, pounding, pounding, Castle beaten wave on wave, Death knoll sounding, sounding, sounding, As I dig my empty grave. I think of yours, so far away, The image haunting me both night and day. I spout off confessions, Yet none are so true As the fact that I have failed you. The fortress is under siege, The enemy is closing in, I'll peck, peck, peck consistently, That is what a little bird taught me, Around and around While the stars plot their course, I will make it through with shows of force. The fortress is under siege, The enemy is closing, closing, closing in.''
This is SUCH a good episode. It is all Capaldi and he is brilliant. I could listen to his voice read the dictionary or a cereal box and love it. The music fits so well. It almost sounds like Beethoven's 7th.
It's amazing what things you pick up on and what you miss too I've watched some episodes where I've had to watch them multiple times before picking up certain things where others picked them up straight away, then there have been other episodes where it's been the opposite way around, then there are others that are fairly straight forward and you pick up everything in one go. This one was one where I pretty much picked up everything except some how I missed the entire conversation with "Clara" where the Doctor says he remembers every time he has died but that was due to short power cut so I didn't miss it because I didn't pick up on it just the power decided to fail at that moment and the next thing I saw was the Doctor finally punching the last bit of the wall. Anyway Paula asking some good questions here.
Love this episode. Was really looking forward to seeing you watch it. I hope you also like the next one. There is one point in the next one that you can argue is not good, but it leads to some absolutely amazing stuff so I forgive it.
i doubt the next episode will be well received even though its my personal favourite tied with heaven sent. im not sure the next episode will be understood let alone liked tbh. i hope i will be wrong but just based on stuff not liked and missed in the past next episode is like the ultimate episode for those things lol.
undeniably a masterpiece and i think everyone can agree! i love the next episode honestly and although i’m fairly sure you guys won’t, i’m still looking forward to your reaction and the debate that will probably follow haha :)
I love this episode. It is my favorite episode not just of Doctor Who, but of Television. This is the Video that introduced me to you all, since I felt like searching for some reactions to this story. Now I've binge-watched your reactions and have caught up to the one I started with. Really enjoying your reactions, and your thoughtful analysis of these stories afterwards!
The one thing that always springs to mind, though .... Doctor, you could have cut a couple billion years off these loops if you just kept punching while telling your story!
Nice reaction but I'm not sure you can really accuse Moffat of perpetrating more 'fake outs' than RTD did. And when you think about it, 'fake outs' are one of the defining characteristics of the show since its inception -- with so many of the cliffhangers of the original show being essentially fake-outs of some kind or other.
I see that happening a lot. There are very valid criticisms to be made about Moffat and his era, yet 90% of those I see are things that RTD was just as if not more guilty of. I even saw someone complaining that Moffat ruined DW by introducing romance and relationships into the show.
I think they mean fake-outs with deaths. In the RTD era the only character I can think of who died only to be brought back was Captain Jack (happened in one episode. Valid explanation) and Donna in the library. And The Donna one wasn’t positioned as her death even in the cliff hanger. The Doctor was still trying to figure out what was going on. In the Moffatt Era everyone died multiple times. Clara, Rory, Amy. At least 3 deaths for each of them
One of my favorite episodes ever. I was in the same boat as you however.... I didn't fully understand what was going on at the end until about halfway through the montage. Initially I thought it was just a really tragic end where he was stuck in that loop forever until I realized that he was making progress through the wall.
Well without spoiling the next episode, I think we can say that the doctor is relatively the same age as before entering the confession dial. I've read a discussion about this. We do know, such as it is, that time inside the confession dial passes faster than time outside of it. Not sure if you know by which ratio, but I think it's certain we didn't reach the end of the universe. Meaning there's actually 3 times to consider. One passes very slowly. The time outside of the confession dial. I wont say more about it. Second, one relatively normal, but relative to the confession dial. It passed whatever billion years. Third, the doctor's actual age. So he is a copy of himself that only started that morning. So relative to himself, when he gets out, he is whatever he was before going in + 1 day. So technically he is not billions of years older. Even though copies of himself lost all that time in the confession dial, this copy of his that got out didn't spend all that time there. Its fascinating to think about it.
It's kind of implied that like with most Time Lord technology, the confession dial is it's own little space. Much like a TARDIS and not completely beholden to the rules around it.
@@Chaosm03 there is an exchange of lines in the next episode when someone explains how much time elapsed outside the confession dial, and inside the confession dial. and it's exactly what you would expect. outside of it, not much, inside of it, billions of years. but what i find fascinating is that between these 2 extremes, doctor is actually both, and neither. he's the freaking schrodingers doctor. he's neither alive, nor dead, for billions of years.
Gosh! She was back. Even if it was only in the Doctor's imagination. Who would have thought it. (Turning away with a little smile on my face) At least you know now she is gone. Great Reactions Girls.
Tennant is my favorite Doctor but this is my favorite episode. I've watched this so many times I've lost count. To me it's a perfect episode and what they did with Clara in the Doctor's mind was really touching.
Honestly my favorite episode of the entire show. Sadly I dont think she'll like the thing that happens in the next one but imo it is also one of the better episodes of the series.
That was the most horrific part of his personal hell. Every time, his grief is reset, so he can't deal with it and get past it. Billions of years of grief, each time as raw and painful as the first moment, and he is forced to remember the entire experience when he faces that wall. No wonder he begs his internal Clara to let him give up and end the struggle.
"There’s this emperor, and he asks the shepherd’s boy how many seconds in eternity. And the shepherd’s boy says, ‘There’s this mountain of pure diamond. It takes an hour to climb it and an hour to go around it, and every hundred years a little bird comes and sharpens its beak on the diamond mountain. And when the entire mountain is chiseled away, the first second of eternity will have passed.’ You may think that’s a hell of a long time. Personally, I think that’s a hell of a bird."
Love the terribly cruel moment of fridge horror in this brilliant episode. At the beginning, the Doctor's gravelly soliloquy about the shadow "next to yours" which follows you your whole life reads as a literate and thematic metaphor for death, delivered by the Doctor in voice over to the fourth wall in much the same vein as his "Beethoven" discussion to the audience during the Flood two-parter earlier. By the end of the episode, however, we realise it's something horrifically different and yet the same- that it's the voice of the dying Doctor simply, truly, and *literally* telling the Doctor being newly 'born' from the transmat what his life will be like. The Veil has been a metaphor for death, throughout the episode, but for the Doctor, sealed in this loop, death has become a metaphor for the Veil.
First of all , to answer ALL of your questions : YES And now for a brief musical interlude : 🎵I wish they all could be Gallifreyan 🎶I wish they all could be Gallifreyan 🎵I wish they all could be Gallifreyan Gals 🎶
The first episode of Capaldi without Clara, and it was brilliant. Really showed off what Capaldi could do even on his own. So looking forward to next season, one of my favorite companions other than Donna. But my favoritest episode, the xmas special, cannot wait!!
That was a brilliant decision by the director. After spending all that time only seeing a painting or the back of her head (maybe an actor double), so that it seems like that is all we are getting, it hit me a little harder when we do see her smiling face and hear her speak.
IMO this is the best Moffat episode not of the Davies era. Blink is my favorite episode. . The second period, is to accentuate the first. I love all the river song stories, but this was the best Moffatt.
I guess that time only passed in the Castle. Not outside of it. The time outside the oblect is not affected by the time inside the object. The Doctor is not billions of years old now for example. He suffered that time inside that thing, without aging or stuff. That is how i understood it.
Heavenly. Some phenomenal guesswork there from Paula. I don't think I've ever seen anybody catch on to what's really happening in this episode as quickly as she did. Great job!
@@dutchman8887 I'm referring to her guesses about the nature of the time loop. She speculates about Time Lords before the Doctor ever uses the shovel and a split second later correctly guesses about him dying.
I still dont get how he could remember all his previous trials if each time hes just made from the same pattern in the hard drive that was saved at the arrival.
moffat said this. note moffat is very big on people coming up with their own theories so this is just his version. if its not in the show you are free to think what you like. "Well technically, it shouldn't be possible that he remembers. Each time he burns himself up to power the teleport, he prints a new version of the man he was, with only the memories he had on arrival. So what does he mean, when he says he remembers, when he clearly can't? Well first, memory is a funny thing - we manufacture memories all the time. Stories your parents told you about you when you were a baby become memories you can't really have. The party you remember going to at school, and then discover you could never have attended. Memories become stories, the Doctor tells us. But I think stories become memories, too. So in that moment when the Doctor figures out the only way to break through the wall is to keep making new versions of himself, and puts it together with the fact that seven thousands years have passed without time travel, and realises that - oh dear God - he's been doing that very thing for a long time, it feels like he remembers. In that plunging moment, he feels the weight of the centuries behind, and the horror of the millennia ahead. In other words, he makes a memory where one can't exist. That's one explanation. Personally, I think there's more to it. Remember, he's trapped inside his own confession dial. The castle chambers, and the monster slouching towards him, are composed of his own worst nightmares, and his nightmares are composed of his worst memories. In a world designed to suck your bad dreams from your mind and feed them back to you, isn't it possible that his worst day - the one he's living right now, again and again - is hanging in the air around him? He's trapped in the Wi-Fi of his bad dreams, and he can't shut them out. So, yes, I suppose he has 4.5 billion years' worth of memories in his head. But loads of the details are identical, so for the Doctor's sake, let's assume that a lot of data compression is possible! He's the Doctor - surely he's as clever as a digital download (especially as he sort of is one now)."
My pet theory is that the Time Lords are trying to get information out of the Doctor. The best way to do that is give him those memories back, at his most desperate point. He is tempted to give up, and tell the truth. Billions of years of pain, his anguish over Clara fresh every time. The Time Lords just miscalculated how much of a monster he is. His stubbornness makes him heroic, but is it also horrific what he was willing to put himself through.
My assumption was that The Doctor works out the loop, and knows how long it took him to go from arriving > burning & applies that timeframe to the amount of time that’s passed. So, it’s less remembering in the sense that he’s been through it - because it’s always the same situation. So he’s remembering a lot, but not much. It’s more the weight of how long he’s been doing it for.
Just pointing out a bit of unintentional comedy with this one. I am somewhat hard of hearing and watch with English CC on. At 44 seconds in, the ladies say "Gallifrey Gals" and the captions show that as "California Cows". I'm not inferring anything here, just had to laugh.
Coincidentally, the horrible American Closed Captioning in the actual episode is why this episode isn't CC'ed when they're watching it. SO many things are not captioned correctly.
@@firefly24601 Yes, I agree that most computer, or automatically generated captions are usually less than useless. It's a real shame for people that need those captions to follow the show.
@@sleestack13 I discovered recently that RUclips's automatic captions sometimes censor swearwords. Like this: [___] A swearword can be perfectly audible to listeners, and yet the caption bot gods take it upon themselves to protect the delicate sensibilities of the hard of hearing. It's bizarre. Sometimes the word they censor isn't even a curseword. Have you ever seen it happen on a Gallifrey Gals video?
@@SchrodingersTransCat I can't honestly recall if I have seen that specifically on this channel, but I have seen that before on RUclips in general. Censorship "for the common good" is just a part of social existence right now. It's strange (especially for a older person such as myself) and sad, but that's where we are right now.
The saddest thing about it is that this version of Clara that the Doctor dreams up that tells him to win.... Is not the real Clara. She would have told him to just accept it and lose.
"Are the Timelords bad guys now?" Well the 10th Doctor took a gun when he found out they were returning so....
Yeah and when you consider Classic Who, they almost always are bad guys. Though, more specifically the Time Lords. Most Gallifreyans in general are alright like most people throughout the universe.
The Sixth Doctor in the Trial of a Time Lord: "In all my travellings throughout the universe, I have battled against evil, against power-mad conspirators. I should have stayed HERE! The oldest civilization: decadent, degenerate and rotten to the core! Ha! Power-mad conspirators, Daleks, Sontarans, Cybermen - they're still in the nursery compared to us! Ten million years of absolute power - that's what it takes to be really corrupt!"
to be fair he was bringing them back after the time war had driven them insane.
I think the Doctor has very complicated feelings about Gallifrey and the Time Lords, as do many of us about our own countries. He loves and hates them at the same time. Wants Gallifrey to be safe, and sometimes thinks the universe would be better off without them. There are no easy answers for him.
After reading this I started to think of Gallifrey like it was America and a lot of the Doctor's emotions suddenly make more sense
My favourite episode for so many reasons. This is Capaldi, Murray Gold, Rachel Talalay and even Moffatt at their very best. Few actors could master an hour on screen (practically) on their own - and fewer still who could do it even nearly as well as Capaldi. A work of art.
12th = Best Doctor for me.
@@jeckjeck3119 same here.
However I love Hell Bent more than this one.
I'm that one person.... 😅
There's this emperor, and he asks the shepherd's boy "how many seconds in eternity?" And the shepherd's boy says, "there's this episode called "Heaven Sent", it stars Peter Capaldi, and it has him monologue for 55 minutes in a castle. Every so often, a reaction channel on RUclips reacts to the series in its entirety. And when they finally reach "Heaven Sent", the first second of eternity will have passed". You might think that's a hell of a long time. Personally, I think that's a hell of an episode.
"Heaven Sent" is an absolute masterpiece, the pinnacle of series 9, and in all honesty the entire Moffat era. It's a very bold risk to put out an episode like this, a 55 minute long meditation on grief and bereavement, with only four characters, one of whom is speaking 99% of the episode's dialogue, confined to a single location, all of this in what is part two of the series' epic three-part finale. And yet it works spectacularly, all thanks to the work of the excellent writing, directing, music and acting.
"Heaven Sent" is Steven Moffat's magnum opus, and while If you wanted to demonstrate a typical Moffat script to someone, you'd show them "Blink" or "The Pandorica Opens", this is what you show them if you want to demonstrate what the man is capable of when firing on all cylinders. The narrative functions on two levels, both as a tense survival horror story, and as a brooding examination of grief and trauma, and it excels at both of them. The typical adventure is highly engaging thanks to the high concept nature of both the location and the monster, as well as the compelling mystery that keeps you guessing throughout and will leave you floored when the pieces finally fall into place. At the same time, the exploration of the Doctor's grief over Clara's death is beautiful and emotionally moving, with the Time Lord cycling back and forth between denial and anger, trying to press on with his latest quest, up until he faces the diamond wall and we see him just crumble. It's a gut-wrenching sequence, with the Doctor's agonised cries of "why can't I just lose?!" punching right through the heart, as does his sad realisation that whatever he does, Clara still will be gone. It makes the moment Clara (or rather his memory of her) persuades him to get back up and punch his way through the diamond wall for billions of years, effectively confronting his bereavement head on rather than avoiding it all the more powerful. It's a beautiful little narrative, filled with plenty of brilliant Moffat lines of dialogue of both the witty ("I'm not scared of Hell, it's just Heaven for bad people") and the emotional kind ("the day you lose someone isn't the worst; at least you've got something to do. It's all the days they stay dead").
Of course, Moffat's script is only one part of the puzzle that makes "Heaven Sent" such a masterpiece. While he put those magnificent beautiful words on the page, it's director Rachel Talalay who brings the whole thing to life visually. Fresh off the back of her excellent work in last series' finale, she proves her versatility with this introspective and moody chamber piece, using the aesthetic of this old castle to provide a beautifully Gothic atmosphere, with an abundance of mesmerisingly gorgeous shots, plenty of highly tense and creepy sequences with the slow shambling form of the Veil, and an exhilarating visual flair that makes the Doctor's mind palace sequences stunning and exciting, as opposed to intrusive and annoying like in the later series of Sherlock. I also have to praise the editing during the episode's climax, with the repetitive scenes of the Doctor going about his routine over billions of years feeling completely engrossing, taking us on an emotional roller coaster as we realise what the Doctor's doing and watch with baited breath as we wait for his plan to come to fruition. Speaking of this sequence, Murray Gold's accompanying track, 'The Shepherd's Boy'/'Breaking the Wall', is a stunning and magnificent piece of music, and one of his most emotionally stirring and exciting compositions. Though let's not pretend, the rest of his work on this episode should also be highly commended, the whole episode has this delightfully moody almost Beethoven-esque sound that creates a really unique feel for this episode, and truly sells the idea of this being something completely different for the show (I also love the very 80s synth riff that plays when the Doctor finds Clara's portrait). After several years of thinking that Murray was over the hill as a composer and past his prime, he proves once and for all that he's still got it, all he needs is the right kind of episode to push him to his limit and challenge him.
But the pièce de résistance that pulls the entire thing together? None other than Mr Peter Dougan Capaldi, who in this episode turns out not just his best performance as the Doctor, but also possibly the best performance of *any actor* who has ever played the Doctor. Continuing off his emotionally volatile turn in the final moments of last episode, Capaldi proves he means business right from the word go, with his chilling opening monologue to his unseen kidnappers setting the stage for the tour de force to follow. From there, he engrosses us in the character's personal journey, throughout the events of the episode, as we see him try to obey Clara's last wish to not take revenge, and simply find his way out of the latest bind he's trapped in. Capaldi does a great job at selling the Doctor's attempts to keep up a brave face for...Clara? Himself? His kidnappers? The flippant witty remarks he makes throughout the episode that are typical for the character are as funny and clever as always, but all betray a sense of repressed sadness, anger, and fear. He's bottling up his emotions and refusing to properly deal with his grief, all of which leads to the heartbreaking scene where he realises what's actually happening (by the way, kudos for Talalay's excellent use of a rack focus during this moment) and he snaps, finally dropping the mask he's been wearing throughout the episode and baring his emotions, considering just giving up and letting the Veil take him. Similarly, Capaldi's performance through the subsequent scenes is magnificent - his defiance as he decides not to play the Veil's game; his exhaustion as he once again sets out to start the cycle again; his triumph when he finally breaks free; and of course, his rage, no longer repressed, as he finds himself back on Gallifrey, ready to unleash Hell on the Time Lords for putting him and Clara through all that. It's just perfect, and firmly cements Capaldi in his place as my favourite Doctor.
Yeah, that's "Heaven Sent". It's not my absolute favourite episode of Doctor Who, but it's pretty secure in my top five episodes, and for damn good reason. A brilliant concept, executed to perfection thanks to the exemplary work of the four people who helped bring most of this to life (as well as the rest of the talented crew of course). It sets the stage for the final episode in a brilliant way, and is guaranteed to leave the audience on tenterhooks, waiting to see what happens next...
What he said!
Absolutely! Couldn't write it better than this if I tried.
"and while If you wanted to demonstrate a typical Moffat script to someone, you'd show them "Blink" or "The Pandorica Opens", this is what you show them if you want to demonstrate what the man is capable of when firing on all cylinders."
Don't forget Silence In The Library and Forest of the Dead. While I love The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances (which turned me around on Eccleston's Doctor) and Girl in the Fireplace which all were written by Moffatt, probably the Moffatt episodes I revisit the most are Heaven Sent and Silence in the Library and Forest of the Dead.
Rory: I guarded my girlfriend in a box for 2000 years.
Twelve: hold my TARDIS.
Masterful episode, and not only are we at peak Capaldi, we may also be at peak Murray Gold.
One of the best episodes ever followed immediately by one of the worst.
@@joer3720 Hell Bent is a Triple A episode.. it just follows one of the all-time best episodes. That's not a fair comparison for any episode.
@@joer3720 Yeah, Hell Bent is WAY overhated. It's fine! Good even, it's just not Heaven Sent.
@@joer3720 On rewatch, I don't think it is the worst.
It has the problem of trying to do too much, and that viewers go into it thinking it will be about Gallifrey (which is of minimal relevance), instead of about the season-long issue of the Doctor's relationship with Clara.
This is by far my favorite Twelve episode and possibly favorite of all. It shows just how outstanding Capaldi is. An absolute astounding performance.
And the loop part always brings me to tears.
This is one of my favorite episodes. The doctor is so good when he is just by himself monologuing.
The Time Lords are the ones who manipulated worked with Ashildr on Trap Street to trap The Doctor in his confession dial and ended up killing Clara, so he's mad at them. And as other people have said, he misses Gallifrey and he misses his home but he ran away from Time Lord society for a reason - he mourned that he couldn't go back, but hates the things Rassilon and the Time Lords did as part of the Time War.
I also really like the connection Paula brings up at 18:39 where the things the Doctor is saying ("burning up the old me to make a new one") can apply to the specific events of the episode, but also apply to the Doctor regenerating and changing.
Masterpiece in every sense of the world.
Writing, camera work, music, EVERYTHING IS PERFECT.
This is by far the Tour De Force of NuWho and deserved winner of a Nebula award. Acting, writing, music, direction and effects are beyond criticism. Also, it frames Timelord society perfectly; Never-ending, untouchable, deadly and deadly boring. Exactly how they appeared all those years ago in War Games. When The Doctor tried to save Gallifrey in the Day of The Doctor is was because of the indigenous race of that planet, not the Timelords themselves; a corrupt and amoral lot that they had become through the millennia. A great episode.
for me this is the perfect episode and a shout out to Murray Gold for the music
Such an incredible episode with one of the best scores ever. Also, the one that completely destroys any doubt in people's minds as to how good an actor Capaldi is. He's pretty much on his own for the entire episode and still manages to make it incredibly-compelling.
It's virtually an entire disc on the S9 soundtrack I think ❤
Everyone talks about Moffatt and Capaldi, but it was just as much Murray Gold and Rachel Talalay who made this episode.
@@ABrecher Please don't forget the late great Michael Pickwoad RIP. I met him at the Doctor Who Festival and spoke to him at length about his TARDIS and design, the man was such a character dressed in his a bow tie (with his loving wife arm in arm, so sweet) but giving off mad professor vibes. I was devastated to learn of his death and Rachel especially loved working with him
I love this episode, It always makes me laugh to think in one cycle there was a naked doctor, and another where he decided to paint a picture of Clara
This is (for me) the best performance anyone has ever given as the Doctor, ever.
"Are the Time Lords bad guys now!?" Seems to depend on their agenda, yes? They can be formidable at times, such as when they forced The Doctor to regenerate- from the second Doctor, Troughton to the 3rd, Pertwee. Other times, completely ineffectual. Sometimes generous, such as them giving The Doctor untold of regenerations in "The Time of The Doctor." Other times, petty. i.e. all too human.
Yeah, the Doctor's beef seems to mainly be with the High Command and the generals of Gallifrey. Rassalon he definitely hates, alot of Council members he has distaste for, but your average Joe Gallifreian who's job is to just keep the TARDIS' oiled he does not have animosity against him.
Distinction between time lords and gallifreyans your not a time lord untill you've looked into the untempered schism and seen all of time
Damn, Paula, you figured that out QUICK.
When he puts his clothes to dry is when I started thinking he was in a loop.
Just a brilliant episode. Arguably the best of NuWho.
That's when I started suspecting, as well!
It also meant that at least one version of the Doctor was literally caught with his pants down 😳
i think this is my favorite DW episode ever.
It's important to remember, as will be more clear next episode, that Gallifrey and the Timelords are 2 separate things. The Doctor loves the planet, the regular people, just not the Timelords too much.
"How many seconds in Eternity?" When one has been through a long drawn-out sequence of stress events it becomes a familiar question.
Of all the reactor channels I watch, about 80% of them had this episode blocked on RUclips. Don't know why it has to be this one. You can probably tell, it's an awesome one to react to.
I loved Katrina’s reactions to Paula’s predictions. Also loved Paula’s reactions too. This episode is without a doubt one of my favorite episodes, I love the sound and story so much and could never get tired of watching it. 55 minutes of pure Peter Capaldi acting his ass off
I always said it! I love the way Paula figures things out almost every time! It´s like she´s the Fan, instead of Katrina...
The Timelords were never the good guys. The Doctor just romanticised them in their absence. Don't forget they almost destroyed Earth in End Of Time.
yes. doctor is happy gallifrey is safe but also disagrees with them on a lot of things and their ways. mostly the higher ups.
I'd say he loves his people, but hates the corrupt leaders.
It's not just in "The End of Time" either, this is an animosity that has gone all the way back to Classic Who:
"In all my travelling throughout the universe, I have battled against evil, against power-mad conspirators. I should have stayed here! The oldest civilisation: decadent, degenerate, and corrupt to the core! Power-mad conspirators? Daleks? Sontarans? Cybermen? They're still in the nursery compared to us! Ten million years of absolute power - that's what it takes to be really corrupt!" - the Sixth Doctor
The Music in this episode is just PHENOMINAL!!
Yeah, sometimes I'll just listen to the soundtrack because it's just SO AMAZING!
And Murray Gold is coming back for the 60th.
His music is such a part of the show it was really noticeable when not there.
The Time Lords aren't evil as such, but they are generally very self-centred and arrogant - although they can have moral individuals, their society/rulers are pretty corrupt.
The original series had a great quote by the 6th Doctor:
"In all my travellings throughout the universe I have battled against evil. Against power mad conspirators. I should have stayed here! The oldest civilisation. Decadent, degenerate, and rotten to the core... Daleks, Sontarans, Cybermen - they're still in the nursery compared to us. Ten million years of absolute power. That's what it takes to be really corrupt."
Haven't watched yet. But I have been waiting so long for this one. Probably my favorite episode. I love Peter Capaldi
One of my favourite episodes, which I think works even better retrospectively with other information we learn from later series’ (no spoilers, of course).
I’m also a fan of Hell Bent, but I will admit to being biased as a big fan of a certain character 🙈
But regardless if you gals love or loathe it, very much excited to see your reaction! It’s always good to see differing opinions ❤️❤️
Oh, and I would add: yes, the Time Lords are villainous in the same sense that Governments can be villainous.
The aristocratic, power driven & overriding leaders of Gallifrey have generally been villains throughout the show’s history, which is one of the reasons the Doctor ran away & was so willing to pick up arms against them in ‘The End of Time’.
But he’s also aware that a huge population of the planet are innocent, just trying to live their own life and are as much a victim of the High Council than anyone else.
Mainly, like the folks we see in The Day of the Doctor. The everyday folk - the Doctor stands for them, rather than the pompous & arrogant.
I like Hell Bent more than most do but I’m still a hint disappointed in Clara’s ending
Paula said that she didn't want to look stupid, due to the story's twists and turns. Don't worry, most of us end up looking down the wrong end of Steven Moffat's story gun 😂
Best non-special episode of Who. And the best Special coming up soon. This was a great time for Doctor Who.
My take on the "bird" message is not that 12 remembers every death, but that the message from himself to himself is designed to trigger the memory of the story of the bird, and from that come up with the plan, and also the realisation that the plan is in progress and each iteration needs to punch as long as they can and then pass the message on the next iteration. It may take 2 billion years to complete, but each iteration only has a few days of memories of running and punching before they die/escape. So the final version that makes it to Gallifrey may know intellectually how long it has been, but he hasn't experienced all that time.
Parts of the set were filmed at Cardiff Castle in Wales
The chalkboard should be lauded as an unsung hero of the Capaldi era.
This is my most favourite episode of Doctor Who. Capaldi is not my highest favourite for reasons I can't remember, but he is nonetheless very good. And in this episode he is _perfect._
This is Moffat and Capaldi's masterpiece.
Fucking such a beautifully performed and filmed episode! Probably my favorite of the entire series. It’s just The Doctor. Who could ask for more?
"I've just been here a very very long time..."
That line always breaks me.
I wasn’t much for the Capaldi era but dear god this is my absolute favourite episode of Doctor Who ever.
This is one of my most favorite episodes of Doctor Who ever.
There are special episodes of Doctor Who and this is one I was waiting for Paula to react to, and watch her facial expressions while figuring out, what the heck is going on.
Capaldi at his very best and Moffet at his. Best episode of the 12th doctor.
one of the greatest things that happened to this show is Murray Gold
Too bad he left the show 3 years ago and modern doctor who has gone down the shithole. Bad writing has been tanking this show for the past 5-6 years
@@MrFraknak he's coming back with RTD though. He's definitely been missed.
Arguably the best episode in all of Dr. Who. Capaldi and Murray Gold at their very best!
I didn't notice the progress in the wall at first, but I did notice the story kept going further
This is my favourite episode with Capaldi
''The fortress is under siege,
The enemy is closing, closing, closing, closing in.
Quickly learning, learning, learning,
Now need to outrun the Veil,
Gears are turning, turning, turning,
No escaping from this jail,
With every step, with every breath,
I'm hunted down by my certain death,
I failed to protect you
And this is the cost,
In this lonely labyrinth, I'm lost.
Heart still yearning, yearning, yearning,
Portrait hangs upon the wall,
Rage is burning, burning, burning,
How could I have let you fall?
The paint will fade, the guilt not so,
With the burden of your death I'll go,
Your eyes do not shine,
They look down and condemn,
As it should be - how I failed, my friend!
Seas are pounding, pounding, pounding,
Castle beaten wave on wave,
Death knoll sounding, sounding, sounding,
As I dig my empty grave.
I think of yours, so far away,
The image haunting me both night and day.
I spout off confessions,
Yet none are so true
As the fact that I have failed you.
The fortress is under siege,
The enemy is closing in,
I'll peck, peck, peck consistently,
That is what a little bird taught me,
Around and around
While the stars plot their course,
I will make it through with shows of force.
The fortress is under siege,
The enemy is closing, closing, closing in.''
Wow. This is beautiful.
This is SUCH a good episode. It is all Capaldi and he is brilliant. I could listen to his voice read the dictionary or a cereal box and love it.
The music fits so well. It almost sounds like Beethoven's 7th.
I have been waiting so long for this reaction! And was not disappointed at all!!!
My favorite episode. Been waiting for this reaction. Really cemented capaldi as my favorite
This is one of the best episodes of the Capaldi era. This has given the chance for Peter Capaldi to properly shine as The Twelfth Doctor.
Liked the time loop concept. Especially with the the final part where he is breaking the wall and it shows all the clips with the music playing.
It's amazing what things you pick up on and what you miss too I've watched some episodes where I've had to watch them multiple times before picking up certain things where others picked them up straight away, then there have been other episodes where it's been the opposite way around, then there are others that are fairly straight forward and you pick up everything in one go. This one was one where I pretty much picked up everything except some how I missed the entire conversation with "Clara" where the Doctor says he remembers every time he has died but that was due to short power cut so I didn't miss it because I didn't pick up on it just the power decided to fail at that moment and the next thing I saw was the Doctor finally punching the last bit of the wall. Anyway Paula asking some good questions here.
Love this episode. Was really looking forward to seeing you watch it. I hope you also like the next one. There is one point in the next one that you can argue is not good, but it leads to some absolutely amazing stuff so I forgive it.
i doubt the next episode will be well received even though its my personal favourite tied with heaven sent. im not sure the next episode will be understood let alone liked tbh. i hope i will be wrong but just based on stuff not liked and missed in the past next episode is like the ultimate episode for those things lol.
Greatest episode of doctor who, in my opinion it's not even close.
One if not the best performance for Capaldi. Maybe one of the best in Doctor Who
Awesome episode, Peter Capaldi on top form.
Peter Capaldi's finest hour right here
undeniably a masterpiece and i think everyone can agree! i love the next episode honestly and although i’m fairly sure you guys won’t, i’m still looking forward to your reaction and the debate that will probably follow haha :)
You really are the most adorable nerd, paula. And respect for figuring out the plot so fast.
One hell of a nerd.
I love this episode. It is my favorite episode not just of Doctor Who, but of Television. This is the Video that introduced me to you all, since I felt like searching for some reactions to this story. Now I've binge-watched your reactions and have caught up to the one I started with. Really enjoying your reactions, and your thoughtful analysis of these stories afterwards!
The one thing that always springs to mind, though .... Doctor, you could have cut a couple billion years off these loops if you just kept punching while telling your story!
When Aragorn kicked that helmet, Viggo really DID break his toe!!! ...oh wait wrong fandom, sorry.
Nice reaction but I'm not sure you can really accuse Moffat of perpetrating more 'fake outs' than RTD did. And when you think about it, 'fake outs' are one of the defining characteristics of the show since its inception -- with so many of the cliffhangers of the original show being essentially fake-outs of some kind or other.
Honestly, I think RTD did it more than Moffat, but people seem to forget that. Still, as you said, that's a big part of the show. :)
I see that happening a lot. There are very valid criticisms to be made about Moffat and his era, yet 90% of those I see are things that RTD was just as if not more guilty of. I even saw someone complaining that Moffat ruined DW by introducing romance and relationships into the show.
I think they mean fake-outs with deaths. In the RTD era the only character I can think of who died only to be brought back was Captain Jack (happened in one episode. Valid explanation) and Donna in the library. And The Donna one wasn’t positioned as her death even in the cliff hanger. The Doctor was still trying to figure out what was going on. In the Moffatt Era everyone died multiple times. Clara, Rory, Amy. At least 3 deaths for each of them
One of my favorite episodes ever. I was in the same boat as you however.... I didn't fully understand what was going on at the end until about halfway through the montage. Initially I thought it was just a really tragic end where he was stuck in that loop forever until I realized that he was making progress through the wall.
This is probably one of the best episodes
There was "Time Lordy" clues in the previous episode in terms of the equipment being used by Ashilder.
One hell of a bird
Both of them.
Well without spoiling the next episode, I think we can say that the doctor is relatively the same age as before entering the confession dial. I've read a discussion about this. We do know, such as it is, that time inside the confession dial passes faster than time outside of it. Not sure if you know by which ratio, but I think it's certain we didn't reach the end of the universe. Meaning there's actually 3 times to consider.
One passes very slowly. The time outside of the confession dial. I wont say more about it.
Second, one relatively normal, but relative to the confession dial. It passed whatever billion years.
Third, the doctor's actual age. So he is a copy of himself that only started that morning. So relative to himself, when he gets out, he is whatever he was before going in + 1 day.
So technically he is not billions of years older. Even though copies of himself lost all that time in the confession dial, this copy of his that got out didn't spend all that time there. Its fascinating to think about it.
It's kind of implied that like with most Time Lord technology, the confession dial is it's own little space. Much like a TARDIS and not completely beholden to the rules around it.
@@Chaosm03 there is an exchange of lines in the next episode when someone explains how much time elapsed outside the confession dial, and inside the confession dial. and it's exactly what you would expect. outside of it, not much, inside of it, billions of years. but what i find fascinating is that between these 2 extremes, doctor is actually both, and neither. he's the freaking schrodingers doctor. he's neither alive, nor dead, for billions of years.
Gosh! She was back. Even if it was only in the Doctor's imagination. Who would have thought it. (Turning away with a little smile on my face) At least you know now she is gone. Great Reactions Girls.
We need more episodes of Gallifrey Gals Get Cat Hair On Their Noses.
It's definitely a reaccurance 😂
Tennant is my favorite Doctor but this is my favorite episode. I've watched this so many times I've lost count. To me it's a perfect episode and what they did with Clara in the Doctor's mind was really touching.
Honestly my favorite episode of the entire show. Sadly I dont think she'll like the thing that happens in the next one but imo it is also one of the better episodes of the series.
I always thought this episode was about grief 😔
Paula "I don't want to look stupid"
Two minutes later whips out the kazoo lol
That was the most horrific part of his personal hell.
Every time, his grief is reset, so he can't deal with it and get past it.
Billions of years of grief, each time as raw and painful as the first moment, and he is forced to remember the entire experience when he faces that wall.
No wonder he begs his internal Clara to let him give up and end the struggle.
Paula is cluey isn't she....now get ready for the FINALE
"There’s this emperor, and he asks the shepherd’s boy how many seconds in eternity. And the shepherd’s boy says, ‘There’s this mountain of pure diamond. It takes an hour to climb it and an hour to go around it, and every hundred years a little bird comes and sharpens its beak on the diamond mountain. And when the entire mountain is chiseled away, the first second of eternity will have passed.’ You may think that’s a hell of a long time. Personally, I think that’s a hell of a bird."
13:24 A special cameo appearance by guest star by Aaron "Kip Dynamite" Ruell.
Love the terribly cruel moment of fridge horror in this brilliant episode. At the beginning, the Doctor's gravelly soliloquy about the shadow "next to yours" which follows you your whole life reads as a literate and thematic metaphor for death, delivered by the Doctor in voice over to the fourth wall in much the same vein as his "Beethoven" discussion to the audience during the Flood two-parter earlier. By the end of the episode, however, we realise it's something horrifically different and yet the same- that it's the voice of the dying Doctor simply, truly, and *literally* telling the Doctor being newly 'born' from the transmat what his life will be like. The Veil has been a metaphor for death, throughout the episode, but for the Doctor, sealed in this loop, death has become a metaphor for the Veil.
The timelords were always badguys!
Another quality kazoo video!
You mean kat-zoo video? 😆
First of all , to answer ALL of your questions : YES And now for a brief musical interlude : 🎵I wish they all could be Gallifreyan 🎶I wish they all could be Gallifreyan 🎵I wish they all could be Gallifreyan Gals 🎶
5:38. Well played ma’am, well played 👌🏼
This ep gives off a Sherlock BBC vibe
Yall didn't even mention...when Capaldi said who the hybrid is -- does he say "is me" or "is Me"? Because Me is someone else...
Definitely the best episode for Capaldi's run.
You are now realising "one hell of a bird" refers both to the actual bird and to Clara.
The first episode of Capaldi without Clara, and it was brilliant. Really showed off what Capaldi could do even on his own. So looking forward to next season, one of my favorite companions other than Donna. But my favoritest episode, the xmas special, cannot wait!!
I mean she does appear here as a picture and as part of Doctor's imagination.
That was a brilliant decision by the director.
After spending all that time only seeing a painting or the back of her head (maybe an actor double), so that it seems like that is all we are getting, it hit me a little harder when we do see her smiling face and hear her speak.
IMO this is the best Moffat episode not of the Davies era. Blink is my favorite episode. . The second period, is to accentuate the first. I love all the river song stories, but this was the best Moffatt.
This was such a great episode!
I guess that time only passed in the Castle. Not outside of it. The time outside the oblect is not affected by the time inside the object.
The Doctor is not billions of years old now for example. He suffered that time inside that thing, without aging or stuff.
That is how i understood it.
Heavenly. Some phenomenal guesswork there from Paula. I don't think I've ever seen anybody catch on to what's really happening in this episode as quickly as she did. Great job!
really? nearly every single reactor i have seen guesses at the same point that it is a time loop. it is the nature of the time loop nobody guesses.
@@dutchman8887 I'm referring to her guesses about the nature of the time loop. She speculates about Time Lords before the Doctor ever uses the shovel and a split second later correctly guesses about him dying.
The music, the acting (I mean, goddam!), the writing. How I miss it.
Peter's best episode to show his true acting ability.
Been waiting for this
Personally, I'd use the shovel.
Do those blue-light-blockers help? My eyes are starting to hurt and/or go blurry when I’m looking at text or spreadsheets on the computer...
I've used them for years now. I find they do help with eyestrain.
It might only be a placebo effect, but still.
I still dont get how he could remember all his previous trials if each time hes just made from the same pattern in the hard drive that was saved at the arrival.
moffat said this. note moffat is very big on people coming up with their own theories so this is just his version. if its not in the show you are free to think what you like.
"Well technically, it shouldn't be possible that he remembers. Each time he burns himself up to power the teleport, he prints a new version of the man he was, with only the memories he had on arrival. So what does he mean, when he says he remembers, when he clearly can't? Well first, memory is a funny thing - we manufacture memories all the time. Stories your parents told you about you when you were a baby become memories you can't really have. The party you remember going to at school, and then discover you could never have attended. Memories become stories, the Doctor tells us. But I think stories become memories, too. So in that moment when the Doctor figures out the only way to break through the wall is to keep making new versions of himself, and puts it together with the fact that seven thousands years have passed without time travel, and realises that - oh dear God - he's been doing that very thing for a long time, it feels like he remembers. In that plunging moment, he feels the weight of the centuries behind, and the horror of the millennia ahead. In other words, he makes a memory where one can't exist.
That's one explanation. Personally, I think there's more to it. Remember, he's trapped inside his own confession dial. The castle chambers, and the monster slouching towards him, are composed of his own worst nightmares, and his nightmares are composed of his worst memories. In a world designed to suck your bad dreams from your mind and feed them back to you, isn't it possible that his worst day - the one he's living right now, again and again - is hanging in the air around him? He's trapped in the Wi-Fi of his bad dreams, and he can't shut them out.
So, yes, I suppose he has 4.5 billion years' worth of memories in his head. But loads of the details are identical, so for the Doctor's sake, let's assume that a lot of data compression is possible! He's the Doctor - surely he's as clever as a digital download (especially as he sort of is one now)."
My pet theory is that the Time Lords are trying to get information out of the Doctor.
The best way to do that is give him those memories back, at his most desperate point. He is tempted to give up, and tell the truth. Billions of years of pain, his anguish over Clara fresh every time.
The Time Lords just miscalculated how much of a monster he is. His stubbornness makes him heroic, but is it also horrific what he was willing to put himself through.
My assumption was that The Doctor works out the loop, and knows how long it took him to go from arriving > burning & applies that timeframe to the amount of time that’s passed.
So, it’s less remembering in the sense that he’s been through it - because it’s always the same situation. So he’s remembering a lot, but not much. It’s more the weight of how long he’s been doing it for.
Paula's getting too good at this!
Just pointing out a bit of unintentional comedy with this one. I am somewhat hard of hearing and watch with English CC on. At 44 seconds in, the ladies say "Gallifrey Gals" and the captions show that as "California Cows". I'm not inferring anything here, just had to laugh.
Coincidentally, the horrible American Closed Captioning in the actual episode is why this episode isn't CC'ed when they're watching it. SO many things are not captioned correctly.
@@firefly24601 Yes, I agree that most computer, or automatically generated captions are usually less than useless. It's a real shame for people that need those captions to follow the show.
@@sleestack13 I discovered recently that RUclips's automatic captions sometimes censor swearwords. Like this: [___]
A swearword can be perfectly audible to listeners, and yet the caption bot gods take it upon themselves to protect the delicate sensibilities of the hard of hearing. It's bizarre. Sometimes the word they censor isn't even a curseword.
Have you ever seen it happen on a Gallifrey Gals video?
@@SchrodingersTransCat I can't honestly recall if I have seen that specifically on this channel, but I have seen that before on RUclips in general. Censorship "for the common good" is just a part of social existence right now. It's strange (especially for a older person such as myself) and sad, but that's where we are right now.
it sucks because I have a feeling Paula's gonna REALLY hate the end of the next episode...
The saddest thing about it is that this version of Clara that the Doctor dreams up that tells him to win.... Is not the real Clara. She would have told him to just accept it and lose.
Great reaction! This is such a good episode!